Future Tense
by BountyKandi
Summary: An installment to Catherine Coulter's FBI series. Includes Sherock and Savich, plus some OC's. When FBI agent Kandi Mattinson's brother is brutally murdered, she will go to any lengths to catch the killer. But what if he catches her, first? .


She saw the flash of silver as the knife arced. With a short scream, she rolled to the side, to see the sharp blade become lodged into the wooden floor, where her heart would have been if she'd not moved. Her already fast breath increased, and she tried getting to her feet. "Sweet doll, oh how you fight." said the voice behind the black ski mask. Her kidnapper moved closer, and she stepped backward. She was scared, and she didn't know what to do. Images raced through her mind, of the past, of family, of her friends at the FBI, Sherlock and Dillon Savich, Ollie Hamish, James Quentin, Dane Carver. Her mind flashed. Oh God, no, please, no, not another premonition. She saw black clothing, tears and flowers. Her body in a black lacquer casket. "NO!" she yelled, pulling a small .22 out of her ankle holster, aiming at the masked man, and pulled her trigger three times. His large body fell backwards, a thump as he hit the ground. The door flew open, and a large brown haired man with a shorter, curly redhead stood there, guns ready. It was Sherlock and Savich. "Shit, Kandi, are you okay?" asked Savich, crouching down beside the kidnapper, checking his pulse. Sherlock raced over from the doorway, and wrapped her arms around Kandi. "Yeah, Sherlock, I'm- oh, crap," Kandi faltered as she stepped back from Sherlock's embrace. "Oh God, Dillon, call the paramedics. She's been stabbed!" said Sherlock, tying back her curly hair. She helped Kandi lie down as Dillon walked over, cell phone in hand. When he put it in his pocket a moment later, he said, "The paramedics should be here soon." Sherlock, holding one of Kandi's bloody hands, sighed. "Kandi, what happened?" she asked as Dillon sat on the other side of Kandi, taking her other hand. Kandi closed her eyes. "I was sitting in my townhouse, drawing out some plans for redecorating. The case I'm working on now, the one where the guy is taking kids as they leave sports practice, and killing them in different, horrid ways, well, it's gotten me really down. This guy is good, and we're getting nowhere fast, so I decided to occupy my mind with something else. "How'd you know that I'd be here?" she asked suddenly. Dillon and Sherlock looked at each other over her, and Sherlock replied, "Well, we'd been worried about you lately, with those cases your working on, that someone may try to hurt you, so we had a friend shadow you the last couple days, just in case. Tonight was the last night he was supposed to watch over you." Kandi winced. Her side was killing her. Dillon, who was holding his jacket to her side to try and stop the bleeding, said, "Just hold on, Kandi, the MT's will be here soon." Everything began to go dark as she heard sets of feet walking in. "Kandi, you've got to stay awake. Kandi, wake up. Come on," said a voice, presumably Sherlock's, but her eyelids were too heavy, so she gave up, and let the darkness swallow her. When she woke up the next morning, Sherlock was sitting at her bedside, smiling. "Morning, Kandi. You scared us when you conked out yesterday," Sherlock told her. Just then, Dillon came in, his 6-year-old son Sean in his arms. "Aunt Kandi?" said the little boy. Dillon let him down and he walked over to Sherlock, and crawled up onto her lap. Dillon walked over behind him and sat in the chair beside Sherlock. "Hey Sean," said Kandi, her voice kind of weak. Her hand, which had been resting on the bed guard, was covered by a smaller one. Sean then said, "Are you okay?" Kandi turned her hand so that her palm was up, and she was now holding Sean's hand. "Yes, I'm fine. Or I will be when your Mama let's me up and out of this bed," she told him. Sean let go of her hand and turned in Sherlock's lap so that they faced each other. "Mama, let Aunt Kandi up, so she can get better." Sherlock grinned at her son and hugged him. "I'll let her up as soon as the doctor says it's okay. Which shouldn't be too long," she said. Sean thought a moment and said, "I suppose that's okay." Dillon laughed, and Sherlock grinned. Just yesterday, they'd taught Sean what 'suppose' means, and he was already overusing it. "Savich.not you and Sherlock again. What, do you and all your friends enjoy being shot and stabbed?" said a familiar male voice from the doorway. Savich and Sherlock turned around. "Well, if it isn't our favorite Dr. Ned," Sherlock said, a smile at her lips. Ned Breaker, who'd had his son rescued by Savich many years before, had tended to Savich and Sherlock often. "What can I say? It is good to see the three of you since that last cook out Quentin had." Sean cocked his head. Ned looked hiss way then at Kandi, and then did a double take. "Holy Moly, is that you, Sean?" he asked. Sherlock and Savich laughed. Sean didn't understand, but he nodded. "Wow, kid, you've gotten big," Ned told him. He walked over to Kandi's bedside and looked at her chart. "Hi again, Kandi. It looks like you got lucky. Again," Ned told her. Kandi grinned and replied, "I guess that carrying a rabbit's foot around has been pretty helpful." Ned shook his head, a smile on his face. "Well, that knife only went through the fatty part of your upper hip, so you should be released soon. How's your brother, by the way?" Ned asked her. Kandi frowned. Ned and her brother had known each other for years, and went deep-sea fishing about every other month. Didn't Ned know? "You mean you.you haven't heard?" she asked him. Shaking his head, Ned pulled a chair to the other side of her bed and sat down. Savich, who knew, picked up Sean and said, "I'm going to take him down to the Cafeteria and get him some food. He kissed his wife and sent a wink to Kandi, then left the room, Sean saying, "But, papa, I'm not hungry."  
Kandi understood why Savich had taken Sean from the room. What she was about to say was gruesome. She sighed, and said "His mangled body was found the other night, in his townhouse. The.the investigators said he'd been tortured." She choked as she said it. Ned's eyes went wide.  
"What are you talking about? Holy Hell, how'd it happen? Kandi, that's impossible, you know you're brother was cautious, if not a bit paranoid. He had 7 locks on his door, and never opened his windows. He has a gun in every room of his house for God's sake!" Ned yelled. Kandi closed her eyes. "I know," she whispered, "I know, believe me I do. Why the hell do you think I was stupid enough to go out and take a walk the other night when I knew someone had been stalking me! It was because I couldn't figure it out either. I can't seem to figure anything out lately."  
"Ned, she's got to get some rest. Why don't we go meet up with Dillon and Sean downstairs, and get some food," said Sherlock. But Ned shook his head. "No, I.I have patients to get to. I'll come back by later." 


End file.
